[Guide] How to Move House

May 14th, 2016

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Moving house is stressful, in fact, it’s one of the most stressful events in life. This guide will tell you how to move house efficiently, provide you with an organisation plan and help you bring this chaos to order.

How to Move House

It’s common sense to start with a plan, but if you make it too detailed, you’ll only stress yourself further. So, we’re here to help you find the right balance.

Make an inventory of all your items. It’s better to start with this about a month before the day of the move. Make a list of everything you own.

Throw/Give away what you don’t need. Everyone has a few things they don’t need in their house. And now is the time to get rid of them, either by giving to friends, or having the items recycled. It will make your load lighter.

Fix documentation. Get all your documents in one place and see which ones you have to update with your new address.

Pack like a smart person. This is the most mundane part of moving, it can’t get any more boring than this. But, if you start early and learn a few tricks, you can at least do this properly, so you don’t have to worry that something might break along the way. There is also the option to hire professional packers to do this for you.

Clean the place. You cannot leave the old place in a bad condition. If you intend to sell it later, it needs to be clean. If you’re moving out of a rented place, then your landlord would want you to clean it before returning your security deposit. If you want a guarantee on getting your money back, it’s a good idea to hire end of tenancy cleaners. Just make sure inspection is done in the next 48 hours after the initial clean.

Organise your transport. Call your friends and family who will help you with their vehicle, as well as for loading and unloading. Make sure to treat them to something nice after that. Or just hire movers. Either way, you need to make sure at least two week prior that you will be having a means of transport on the set date.

How to Change Your Address

The sooner the documents get taken care of, the easier to breathe. Good thing there’s the Internet:

Change your address on your passport. Good news on this one, you don’t need to make any passport changes when changing your address.

Change your address for gas and electricity supplier. Give at least a 48-hour notice that you’re moving, so they can calculate your final bill. This way you won’t have to pay any more for the old house… which is kind of important.

Guide to Packing For a Move

Packing often gets people stuck and frustrated, but knowing a few general things and a few more tiny ones will make a big difference. Main materials are: boxes, bubble wrap, tape and black markers. You can tackle the packing task yourself or let the professional movers do it for you.

Pack heavier items in smaller boxes. A heavy item in a big box will only make it tear. The tighter it’s packed, the more secure.

Fill gaps in boxes with something soft. You can use bubble wrap, newspapers, cloth and just about any soft material.

Pack by room, not by types of items. It’s so much easier to just place every box in the appropriate room.

Label the boxes. Every box should have a name. Not just “fragile”, but also, “Kitchen”, “Bedroom”etc. Unpacking will be even easier. Also, use different coloured tape for different things.

Cap toiletries with a small piece of stretch wrap. This can prove helpful if you don’t want them to spill on the way.

Pack plates vertically. The best way to decrease the chance of breakage. Also, it’s a good idea to place thin cloth between the plates.

Cover furniture with stretch wrap. Stretch wrap is good because it shields your furniture from scratches, and it’s not slippery when handing.

How to Move with Pets

Pets definitely have it hard and here is how you can make the move easy for them.

Moving with Dogs. Dogs can take moving badly, and it’s mainly because no one is paying attention to them. So, the best thing you can do is play with them all the way. It’s also important not to change feeding times.

Moving with Cats. Cats need a bit more care. First, you better keep them in a closed room while loading the luggage, and you’ll have to keep them locked again while unloading at the new place. Again, do not change feeding times, and make sure the bowl, toys and litter box are always there.

Moving with Birds. Similar to cats and dogs, birds will be fine as long as you don’t change the routine – keep the same eating schedule, but make sure not to give too much food during the trip, as the poor bird might end up vomiting it. You’ll need to purchase a new cage designed for car rides, since the regular most probably won’t fit. And, upon arrival, put the bird back in its usual cage.

If you find this troublesome, you can always find a pet care facility to bring your pet, while you move.

Should You Hire Professionals to Help?

Professional companies can help you a lot with cleaning, packing, transport, pet sitting, and just about anything. If you can afford all this, here is what you’ll need to pay attention to when hiring.

Do they have a good website?

Do they offer satisfaction guarantee?

If they do, then they have probably been in the business for a long time – which is what you’re looking for. Especially with cleaning, every self-respecting company should offer at least 48-hour guarantee of cleanliness.

Do they charge by the service or by the hour?

Both have benefits and drawbacks, and you better ask all your questions about the price estimate. Best thing about it is that real professionals always offer free quotes.

Are they insured?

Move along if the answer is no. You do not want an uninsured company. Also, when it comes to movers, bear in mind that you get full insurance only if you let the technicians do all the job – from packing, to loading and unloading. If you did not let them do one or more of their scheduled tasks, you cannot throw on them the responsibility of a possible damage.

Do they have a cancellation policy?

Cancellation of the service might happen at any time and you better ask this before you give them the money. Some will keep a part of the paid fee, others will keep it all and the third kind will give you a minimum day cancellation option, prior to which they will give you all your money back.